1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fat-line towed-arrays, and more particularly to an apparatus for measuring the force applied to fat-line towed-arrays during flushing cycles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Submarines deploy fat-line towed-arrays using a process known as flushing, wherein water is pumped into the fat-line stowage tube to exert pressure upon and hence deploy the fat-line towed-array. Deployment success can be determined by measuring the flushing water force applied to the fat-line towed-array. Since effective deployments are critical to successful submarine missions, it is essential to maintain a method to evaluate the flushing mechanics and effectiveness. There is currently no reliable method to evaluate a submarine""s flushing procedure. What is needed is an apparatus and method that measure and evaluate the flushing process effectiveness.
It is a general purpose and object of the present invention to provide a means of measuring the effectiveness of a submarine""s flushing procedure for fat-line towed-arrays. It is a further object to use a combination of tension and bending sensors and measurements to evaluate the flushing system. It is another object to provide such tension and bending sensors as modules that can be connected to a fat-line towed-array. It is yet a further object to integrate the sensors with a tow cable for communication to a data processing system for evaluation.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious hereinafter in the specification and drawings.
These objects are accomplished with the present invention by sensors in the standard fat-line towed-array configuration at the typical telemetry positioning. Tension sensors located within a modified fat-line towed-array bulkhead measure axial tension applied to the front of the towed-array during the flushing cycle. Bending sensors mounted further downstream along the fat-line canister walls, measure the bending load during the flushing cycle. The sensor outputs are encoded and digitized before being transmitted through a tow cable for further data conditioning and processing. The tension and bending sensor data provide information to evaluate the force exerted on the fat-line towed-array thereby allowing a measure of the deployment capability and effectiveness.